In the child-free community, they would call me a fence sitter – a person who is unsure about whether or not they want to have children one day. Despite this, sometimes aggressively imposed, label, I choose to embrace ambiguity in this area in the same manner in which I approach labeling my sexuality and gender…
It has been a decade since I began pondering the queer nature of my sexuality, ten years that feel like a lifetime when I consider the person I’ve become since those “I kissed a girl and I liked it (way differently than she did)” days. Despite the depth of self-reflection around the queerness of my…
My queer identity is constantly evolving. For too long I resisted this growth process, worrying that my inability to find a perfectly fitting label would cause others to question the validity of my sexuality. So much of my initial journey was consumed by this deep insecurity that the rest of the LGBTQ community wouldn’t find…
A challenge LGBTQ communities face now and in the years ahead is not only specific to policy threats or civil rights obstacles, but in how effectively we can join forces with other communities and rise together as one to fight back to ensure a more fair and equal future for all. Gone are the days…
IMPERIAL VALLEY, Calif. – During Imperial Valley’s second annual Pride event this Saturday, Oct. 14, statewide, national and global groups will join together in an act of solidarity to support ongoing local work to #ResistHate and help attendees rise up as one to ensure equality, justice and health for all. “Despite narratives and efforts that…
I will be coming out for the rest of my life. No setting is safe from this phenomenon. I have to come out everywhere – in the grocery store, at work, when meeting a friend of a friend. The process of coming out is lifelong and dynamic, despite the well-known concept of “a coming out…
There is something deeply inspiring in an act of pure authenticity. My husband coming out as transgender was the purest of such acts. His acknowledgement of his need to live a valid life at all costs began shaping the decisions we would make in the future. There was no more room for inauthentic living in…
Pride was a rite of passage. During my first Pride, back in Baltimore, Md., I remember looking around and feeling completely overwhelmed by simply existing in the same space as thousands of other LGBTQ people at once. It gave a sense of community and context to my identity that I desperately needed. My network was…
Recalling the first Pride parade Dear Editor, Reading about Pride always reminds me of this wondrous episode: Many years ago I went to work at the brand new SD AIDS Project as the director of volunteer and chaplain services and made strong connections with the clients as well as the volunteers; for many I was…
Did you know that … Major General Matthew Beevers marched in our parade with the military contingent? That the Walmart contingent had over 400 employees and families marching? That Ms. California 2017 waved throughout the parade at everyone? That the “Burning Man Festival” had a space at the festival? That our popular Sheriff Bill Gore…
